BY KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Wednesday
(Mall of Asia Arena)
12 noon – NU vs UST (women’s)
2:30 p.m. – Presentation of Individual Awards
4 p.m. – Ateneo vs UST (men’s)
Ateneo continued its dominance in UAAP season 82 men’s basketball after crushing University of Santo Tomas, 91-77, in Game 1 of their finals on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coming off a 16-day respite, the Eagles showed no signs of rust with their relentless plays to move a win away from their third straight championship and 11th overall in this best-of-three series.
Game 2 will be on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The victory also stretched Ateneo’s winning run to 15 games, including a 14-game eliminations sweep that propelled them straight to the finals.
Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin still has high praises for UST.
“Nothing but respect for UST. You saw how persistent they were, how hard they kept coming at us. So we’re not gonna slow down,” he said.
The Eagles controlled the tempo throughout, leading by as many as 66-43 anchored on Thirdy Ravena and Matt Nieto’s nine straight points.
Ravena torched the basket by erupting for a season-high 32 points on a 14-of-18 shooting apart from grabbing five rebounds. Ange Kouame pumped in 18 points and had 12 boards while SJ Belangel added 14 points, five assists and two assists.
UST came close in the last 2:32 of the second period after a Mark Nonoy triple trimmed the deficit to 41-38.
But Ateneo recovered with a 13-1 blast led by Ravena to regain a 54-39 cushion at the half and went o
Ravena was already on fire in the first two quarters by unloading 18 points while Kouame already scattered 14 points and hauled nine rebounds.
Nonoy led UST with 26 points including seven triples while Brent Paraiso had 14 points. Season Most Valuable Player Soulemane Chabi Yo finished with 13 points and 10 boards.
The scores
:
ATENEO 91 – Ravena 32, Kouame 18, Belangel 12, Mamuyac 9, Navarro 6, Nieto Mi 5, Nieto Ma 5, Wong 3, Daves 2, Andrade 0, Go 0, Maagdenberg 0, Mallillin 0.
UST 77 – Nonoy 26, Paraiso 14, Chabi Yo 13, Subido 8, Cansino 4, Abando 3, Concepcion 3, Ando 2, Bataller 2, Huang 2.
Quarters: 32-17, 54-39, 76-58, 91-77.